Chongqing and Zhejiang are competing over "Zhang Xue"; what are they fighting for?

Ask AI · How does Zhang Xue’s entrepreneurship across provinces reflect competition in the industrial ecosystem?

Ambition to “overtake on curves”

Is there anything more exhilarating than winning a race by taking the lead on the bend?

In the past few days, Zhang Xue’s real-life “Fast & Furious” has completely ignited the capital circle: Zhang Xue Motorcycles has been selling out. Hongchang Technology, which indirectly holds shares in Zhang Xue Motorcycles, has also logged “20cm” daily limit-up for two straight days, further lifting the motorcycle and components sector.

The competition over the “Zhang Xue” IP in places like Chongqing, Zhejiang, and Hunan is also highly charged. Zhejiang’s state-owned assets jointly invested, making a surprise “strategic buy-in” of 90 million yuan before the championship, which quickly became a “good story.” Hunan, meanwhile, loudly signaled: “The story of Zhang Xue Motorcycles in Hunan shouldn’t end with the fact that Zhang Xue is from Hunan.” And in the list of spare-parts suppliers, cities such as Qingdao, Foshan, and Jiangmen have also stepped forward one after another…

As more and more stories are dug up, the plot also starts to become more dramatic and twisty—an entrepreneur from Hunan worked his way up in Zhejiang’s motorcycle industry, then moved to Chongqing to start a business and succeeded in one stroke. But why were the investors behind him again from Zhejiang?

The key questions that need to be clarified right now are: when different regions compete for “Zhang Xue,” what exactly are they competing for? And how can they truly retain the “Zhang Xues”?

01

On March 30, more than ten media outlets gathered at Zhang Xue Motorcycles’ factory in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area to interview founder Zhang Xue. A company carried aloft by “Motorcycle Capital” should be a story of mutual achievement between enterprises and local governments—but “unexpectedly,” something else quietly arrived—

“As someone from out of town starting a business in Chongqing, what policies, talent, and industry-chain support has Chongqing provided during your entrepreneurial process?”

“Honestly, truthfully? Honestly—none at all. Not a single cent.”

This video went viral online and sparked discussions about “the competition for Zhang Xue.”

Image source: Zhang Xue Motorcycles

In January this year, Zhejiang Chuangtou, which has Zhejiang state-owned assets in its background, had just completed a Series A preemptive lead for Zhang Xue Motorcycles. It entered with 90 million yuan, and the post-investment valuation was 1.09 billion yuan. Two months later, a French racer driving Zhang Xue Motorcycles’ 820RR-RS bike outperformed a host of European, American, and Japanese brands and won the WSBK Portugal round championship.

Tianyancha data shows that in early March, Zhang Xue Motorcycles completed Series A financing. The investors were Hangzhou Zhejiang Chuangbaihe Entrepreneurship Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), under Zhejiang Chuangtou, and Jinhua Zhejiang Chuang Jinyi Zhikong Entrepreneurship Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), under Zhejiang Chuangtou. They held 5.5% and 2.75% respectively.

This “strategic buy-in” also made Zhejiang Chuangtou one of the biggest winners behind Zhang Xue Motorcycles’ championship. Before that, in the company’s founding year, Zhang Xue Motorcycles had already completed an angel round involving Shanghai Gaoxin Capital, and it currently holds 9.17%. Beyond that, no Chongqing-based capital players could be found.

Image source: Tianyancha

As for the layout by the capital circles in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai—there is also no shortage of considerations about competing for Zhang Xue Motorcycles.

When Cheng Junhua, general manager of Zhejiang Chuangtou, was interviewed by Zhejiang Daily, he candidly said: “He has his own production capacity and supply chain management methods, but expanding production is inevitable. I really do want to bring him to Zhejiang, but I won’t force it. What we can do is tell a good Zhejiang story, so he is willing to come on his own.”

Nowadays, for local governments, “attracting investment by leveraging investment” has long become a “standard operation” for investment attraction. Meanwhile, the prosperity of Zhejiang’s venture capital ecosystem—especially its focus on and support for startups—has also given Chongqing a lesson: how should the government cultivate a good venture capital ecosystem, so it can achieve win-win results while accompanying enterprises’ growth?

Those eyeing Zhang Xue Motorcycles are not limited to Zhejiang.

For example, Hunan media has already started to fantasize: “Zhang Xue Motorcycles will definitely expand production capacity. Can the new base return to the place where Zhang Xue’s dream began—Hunan?”

Jiangmen is also promoting its close connection with the championship model of Zhang Xue Motorcycles: “The helmet and exhaust pipe, as well as the ceramic cylinder—the ‘heart’ of the engine—are all from Jiangmen.”

Of course, Chongqing’s moves have been just as fast. On March 31, Chongqing Liangjiang New Area officially announced that it would provide nearly 200 acres of land to build a new production base for Zhang Xue Motorcycles. In the face of competition from different regions for Zhang Xue Motorcycles, it’s hard to say this isn’t a precise “defense,” leaving the company with enough room for development.

02

When it comes to competing for “Zhang Xue,” what exactly is being competed for?

Beyond the halo of winning the championship, Zhang Xue Motorcycles has achieved a breakthrough in track performance at a civilian price of 43,800 yuan (only 1/3 of imported competing products). This may help shift domestic large-displacement motorcycles from competing on “value for money” to competing on “technology premium,” directly going head-to-head with international brands such as Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki.

Data shows that in 2025, China’s motorcycle production and sales reached 22.1093 million units and 21.9677 million units, respectively, representing year-on-year growth of 10.69% and 10.25%. Among them, motorcycle exports totaled 13.3657 million units, up 21.33%; export value reached 88.5 billion USD, up 26.78%.

In intuitive terms, China’s traditional domestic motorcycle market has entered a stage of stock competition. Developing high-end intelligent products and expanding overseas markets has become an urgent priority.

Image source: CCTV News

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that from 2025 to 2033, the global market for electric two-wheel vehicles will grow at a rate of 11% per year. The market size is expected to rise from 44.5 billion USD in 2024 to around 114.3 billion USD in 2033. The Asia-Pacific region is where global electric two-wheel vehicle consumption and production are most concentrated, with its market share accounting for 97.3% of the global total.

For many years, China’s motorcycle output has accounted for about half of the world’s “half the mountains and rivers” share. However, China has lacked discourse power in high-end products. With brands such as Zhang Xue, Chunfeng, Qianjiang, Keeway, and Zongshen flourishing across multiple international racing stages, it is expected to help shift the global two-wheel vehicle manufacturing center toward China and enhance the industry’s global competitiveness.

At the recently held 2026 Brand Partner Conference, Zhang Xue revealed that in 2025, Zhang Xue Motorcycles’ total output value was 750 million yuan, R&D investment was 69.58 million yuan, and the ratio of R&D sales was 9.33%. In the same period, it recorded a loss of 22.78 million yuan. Starting from 2026, terminal sales will double—expected to reach 50,000 units in 2026, break 100,000 units in 2027, and push toward 200,000 units in 2028.

The immense potential of mid-to-high-end motorcycles is undeniable. This makes it easy to understand: though on the surface different regions appear to be competing for “Zhang Xue,” what it really reflects is the ambition of motorcycle strongholds such as Chongqing, Zhejiang, and Jiangmen to fully drive motorcycle “upgrading to the high-end,” “intelligent development,” and “globalization,” and to build a new engine for industrial upgrading.

In fact, when Zhang Xue spoke in an interview about “not a single cent,” he also added his reasons for choosing Chongqing to start his motorcycle business:

“Chongqing has a strong foundation in the motorcycle industry—suppliers are all here.” In the early days of starting his business in Chongqing, the first place he went was a location similar to “Huaqiangbei.” Based on his own needs, he assembled a motorcycle for 20,000 yuan, and used that bike to secure startup capital. After the company grew, Zhang Xue also wanted to make his own engines—reducing precision from 5 microns to 3 microns—which is also something he could accomplish by finding suppliers to meet that requirement.

That is to say, the first thing a startup considers is the industrial ecosystem: how complete the industrial chain and supply chain are. As China’s “Motorcycle Capital,” Chongqing has more than 50 motorcycle full-vehicle enterprises above a designated size, more than 410 parts enterprises above a designated size, a local matching rate of over 80% for fuel motorcycles, and a local matching rate of about 60% for electric motorcycles.

This gives Chongqing the advantage of “winning half the game first.” Now, Zhang Xue has already released a bold statement: “Within the next five years, we will capture more than 50% of the market share from international big-name brands.” As enterprises develop, so does the city. The true way to retain the “Zhang Xues” is always whether the city can embed enterprises into its industrial ecosystem, so the city will always be needed by those enterprises.

The real contest among Chongqing, Zhejiang, and Jiangmen has never been about who can offer better terms. It’s about who can first achieve an overtaking on curves on the global race track.

Text | Dan Zhongkui

Cover image source: Zhang Xue Motorcycles City Evolution Theory original production. Without authorization, copying or reposting is prohibited; legal responsibility will be pursued.